Safety razor blade stropper



March 1, 1938. c L: JAMES v 2,109,747

SAFETY RAZOR BLADE STROPPER 3 Filed July 1, 1955 INVENTOR CHARLES L. JAMEs.

Patented Mar. 1, 1938 UNITED STATES 2,109,747 SAFETY RAZOR BLADE STROPPER. Charles L. James, San Francisco, Calif. Application July 1, 1935, Serial No. 29,279

7 Claims.

This invention relates to stropping devices for safety razor blades of the double-edged wafer type, and has for its objects improvements in such a stropping device as shown in my United States Patent No. 1,694,544, whereby its operation will be considerably improved and the sharpened blade will have keener edges. Other features and advantages of my improvements will appear in the following description and accompanying drawing.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my stropper with blade and strop in position, and with part of the handle connection shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the blade holding carriage of the stropper.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged end view of Fig. 3 showing the blade reversing swivel joint.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view partly in section, showing a modification of the universal joint which connects the handle to the frame of the stropper.

The stropper is very much like the one shown in my aforesaid patent for sharpening doubleedged wafer blades, and likewise is of the type which is drawn back and forth on a strop by hand and automatically flips the leaving edge of the blade against the strop during one stroke,

and the opposite edge during the next stroke, the blade-holding carriage being tilted first one way and then the opposite way by the friction of the strop acting on the carriage during its movement, the improvements herein relating to construction.

In the drawing the frame of the stropper comprises spaced sides I and a cross connecting plate 2 from which extends a detachable handle 3 which is connected to the cross connecting plate of the frame by means of a universal joint 4 which will be more fully describedat a later point in the specification. The sides of the frame are spaced by two round-shouldered pins or bars 5, and between the two pins 5 is a tiltable blade- 1 holding carriage shown best in the detached view of Fig. 3.

This carriage has a pair of thin sheet metal hinged leaves 6, 7 between which the razor bladeis adapted to be centered and clamped in the po- 0 sition shown at B in Figs. 1 and 2, and is firmly mounted on a round shaft 8 which passes freely through openings in opposite sides of the frame.

The leaves are respectively perforated as at 9' and formed with bosses ID for centering a safety 5 razor blade through the holes which exist in the blades, and the leaves are hinged together at one end as indicated at l I on a transversely extending pin I2 which passes loosely through a hole in the spherical upper end l3 of a small post l3 which revolvably extends through a hole 5 very close to the end of shaft 8 and has a head M to prevent it from pulling upward, while to prevent the post l3 pushing downward through the shaftthe post I3 is necked or circumferentially grooved as at l5 within the shaft and the 10 and down movement yet be perfectly free to revolve. V

It has been mentioned that the hinge pin 12 fits loosely in the holein the upper ball end of the post, and this is to permit the blade clamp 2o ing leaves 6 and 1 to rock transversely, or longitudinally, of hinge pin l2 for a purpose to be later explained. ,j, i I

The blade is placed between the leaves 6 and l and they are closedand their free ends dropped v25 into a notch in a bracket plate. I! rigidly secured to the opposite end of the shaft 8, as by riveting thereto, and a little latch bar l8 rather tightly pivoted at one end as at l9 to an car '20 formed on plate I1 is closed across the notch and across 30 1', 6' of the blade clamping leaves, and under a second ear 2| of bracket I 1 so as to hold the leaves and blade together for stropping; How- .ever, a point to be observed here is that the 35 to permit the same transverse rocking movement 40 of the blade clamping leaves at the handle end as is permitted at the hinged'ends by the loose-" ness of pin l2 in the hole in the ball l3. When the carriage is in place on the frame and blade B in position, and the strop, preferablya leather strap A extended or threaded through the frame between its sides, I as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and while holding the strop taut and moving the frame back and forth along the strop the friction of the latter on theupper side of shaft 8 will rock or tilt the carriage in proper direction to bring the leaving edge of theblade against the strop so as to strop the same, and when the direction of the carriage is reversed it automatically forces the opposite edge down or against the stropping surface, but due to the looseness of pin l2 in the hole in post ball l3 and the corresponding up and down freedom of the blade clamping leaves under latch bar IS, the leaves and blade can tilt slightly independently of their bodily tilting action on shaft 8 as a fulcrum, so that the blade flattens more to the plane of the stropping surface, to thus secure a somewhat longer bevel to the cutting edge.

The handle 3 is, as shown in Fig. l, secured by a universal joint 4 to the cross connecting plate 2 of the frame and, as will be observed in Fig. 2, the point of attaching the handle is not in the center of the frame but considerably off center so that when working the stropper back and forth the handle will be much closer to one edge of the strop A than to the other. This arrangement makes twist at an angle to the strop as indicated in Fig. 2 and gives an angular stropping action of the razor edge instead of maintaining it straight across the strop. Thus, with the stropper being moved by its handle in direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the opposite end of the frame will lag to the left, and will assume the opposite lag upon reversing the direction of travel. The handle being freely revolvable as well as having a universal joint connection to the frame, does not communicate any twisting action of the hand to the stropper, but leaves it free to automatically assume the correct angle.

The handle may project either down, or up, and the frame may be turned end for end so as to bring the handle at either side to suit either a left-handed or right-handed person.

The handle may be secured to the cross plate 2 of the frame by any desired form of universal joint, though in Fig.1 the ball member is shown as having a neck 22 threaded on the outer end at 23 to screw into a threaded hole in the frame and an enlarged shoulder or nut 24 which seats against the plate. The handle 3 is hollow on its upper end and crimped over the ball, and at the lower side of the ball is a square orhexagon projection 25 which is-adapted to'seat in a similarly formed socket 26 in the handle, all so that if the handle is pushed toward the frame it will slide over the neck 22 and the projection 25 will be engaged by the socket 26 so that upon then twisting the handle the ball member may be screwed into or out of the plate.

In Fig. 5 the ball and socket members are reversed, the ball 4' being rigid on the handle 3 and the socket member 21 being part of the threaded piece 23 which screws into the plate 2. In this construction the socket member 21 may be made long enough to hold in the fingers to screw in place.

With either handle it is highly desirable to have the outer end 28 of the handle magnetized so that the razor blade can be picked up from a flat hard surface such as a sink. The end of the handle is also preferably slotted as at 29 to provide north and south poles of the magnet.

In using the stropper it is first worked back and forth along the strop with the blade in the carriage, then the latch bolt I8 is opened, the blade clamping leaves are pinched at their extremities 6', I, swung substantially vertical over post l3 and given a half turn, using post I3 as an axis, to reverse the sides of the blade, and again lowered into the socket and fastened by latch l8 and stropped a few times more to sharpen the opposite sides of both edges.

Having thus described the nature of my improvements and the manner of operation, it will eluding a pair of leaves be evident to anyone skilled in the art to which the invention appertains that various modifications of the preferred construction shown may be made within the spirit of the-invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a razor blade stropping device of the character described, a frame adapted to be slid back and forth along a strop, a tiltable bladeholding carriage mounted on the frame adapted to present opposite edges successively to the strop surface in respectively opposite directions of travel of the device, and a handle for moving the device projecting from the frame, said handle connected to the frame by a ball joint, and said ball joint having one of its members threaded into the frame and the handle being longitudinally movable over the ball and provided with means for engaging said member for screwin the same in place.

2. In a razor blade stropper for wafer type razor blades, a frame provided with a handle and adapted to be slid back and forth along a strop, a tiltable carriage pivotally mounted on said frame for holding the blades, said carriage including a pair of leaves hingedly end and to the carriage by a hinge pin extending transversely of the leaves with its axis centrally disposed with respect to the leaves and between which leaves the blades are clamped in position, a latch on the carriage for holding the free ends of the leaves together when in operative position, and means at the hinged ends of the leaves arranged and adapted to permit bodily reversing of both leaves and blade to opposite operative position when said latch is released, the arrangement being such that when the leaves are in either operative position the wafer blade will be the same distance from the strop.

3. In a razor blade stropper for wafer type razor blades, a frame provided with a handle and adapted to be slid back and forth along a strop, a tiltable carriage pivotally mounted on said frame for holding the blades, said carriage including a pair of leaves hingedly connected together atone end and to the carriage and between which leaves the blades are clamped in position, a latch on the carriage for holding the free ends of the leaves together when in operative position, and means at the hinged ends of the leaves arranged and adapted to permit bodily reversing of both leaves and blade to opposite operative position when said latch is released, the arrangement being such that when the leaves are in either operative position, the then outermost leaf will swing outwardly on its hinge connection independent of the other leaf for release or insertion of a blade, the hinged connection of the blade clamping leaves to the carriage including a pin to which both leaves are hinged, a post through which said pin passes, and means supporting said post for axial turning. 1

4. In a razor blade stropper for wafer type razor blades, a frame provided with a handle and adapted to be slid back and forth along a strop, a tiltable carriage pivotally mounted on said frame for holding the blades, said carriage inhingedly connected together at one end and to the carriage and between which leaves the blades are clamped inposition, a latch on the carriage for holding the free ends of the leaves together when in operative position, and means at the hinged ends of the leaves arranged and adapted to permit bodily reversing of both leaves and blade to opposite connected together at one or insertion of a blade, the hinged connection of the blade clamping leaves to the carriage including a pin to which both leaves are hinged, a post through which said pin passes, and a shaft into the side of which said post is rotatably supported, said shaft extending parallel to said leaves when clamping a blade, and a bracket plate secured to one end of said shaft and formed to cooperate with said latch in holding the free ends of said leaves.

5. In a razor blade strep-per for wafer type razor blades, a frame provided with a handle and adapted to be slid back and forth along a strep, a tiltable carriage pivotally mounted on said frame for holding the blades, said carriage. including a pair of leaves hingedly connected together at one end and to the carriage and be tween which leaves the blades are clamped in position, a latch on the carriage for holding the free ends of the leaves together when in operative position, and means at the hinged ends of the leaves arranged and adapted to permit bodily reversing of both leaves and blade to opposite operative position when said latch is released, the arrangement being such that when the leaves are in either operative position the then outermost leaf will swing outwardly on its hinge connection independent of the other leaf for release or insertion of a blade, the hinged connection of the blade clamping leaves to the carriage inclding a pin to which both leaves are hinged, a post through which said pin passes, a shaft into the side of which said post is rotatably supported, said shaft extending parallel to said leaves when clamping a blade, a bracket plate secured to one end of said shaft and formed to cooperate with said latch in holding the free ends of said leaves,

said post passing into a hole in said shaft close to one end of the shaft and formed with a reduced neck within the shaft, and means projecting from the shaft into said neck to prevent withdrawal yet permit free turning of the post.

6. In a razor blade stropper for wafertype' razor blades, a frame provided with a handle and adapted to be slid back and forth along a strop, a tiltable carriage pivotally mounted on said frame for holding the blades, said carriage including a pair of leaves hingedly connected together at one end and to the carriage and beposition ;-a latch on the carriage for holding the free ends of the leaves together when in operative position, and means at the hinged ends of the leaves arranged and adapted to permit bodily reversing of both leaves and blade to opposite operative position when said latch is released, the arrangement being such that when the leaves are in either operative position the then outermost leaf will swing outwardly on its hinge connection independent of the other leaf for release or insertion of a blade, the hinged connection of the blade clamping leaves to the carriage including a pin to which both leaves are hinged, a post through which said pin passes, a shaft into the side of which said post is rotatably supported, said shaft extending parallel to said leaves when clamping a blade, a bracket plate secured to one end of said shaft and formed to cooperate with said latch in holding the free ends of said leaves, said post passing into to one end of the shaft and formed with a reduced neck within the shaft, and a head to the outer side of the shaft, and a center-punched indentation projecting from the shaft into said neck to prevent withdrawal yet permit free turning of the post. i c

7. In a razor blade stropper for wafer type razor blades, a frame provided with a handle and adaptedto be slid back and forth alonga strop,

a tiltable carriage pivotally mounted on said frame for holding the blades, saidcarriage including a pair of leaves hingedly connected together at one end and tothecarriage and between vwhich leaves the blades are clamped in position,

a latch on the carriage for holding the free ends of the leaves together when in operative position, and means at the hinged ends of the leaves arranged and adapted to permit bodily reversing of both leaves and blade to opposite operative position when said latch is released, the arrange ment being such that when the leaves are in tween which leaves the blades are clamped in:

either operative position the then outermost leaf will swing outwardly on its hinge connection independent of the other leaf for release or insertion of a blade, the hinged connection of the b-lade clamping leaves to the carriage including a pin towhich both leaves are hinged, a post through which said pin passes, and means supporting said post for axial turning, and means to permit limited free transverse tilting of saidleaves when in operating position independent of thetilting of the carriage as a whole.

. r 7 CHARLES L. JAMES. 

